SDSU to face Menzies, NMSU in NCAA

SDSU NCAA Selection Rally

He was a 6-foot-9 center from Santa Monica College that had caught the eye of new San Diego State coach Steve Fisher shortly after he took over the program in the spring of 1999. Fisher inquired with the junior college’s assistant coach about Mason’s interest and availability.

Fisher never got Mason. He went to Xavier. But Fisher ended up hiring the assistant coach, Marvin Menzies.

It’s funny how basketball works. Fifteen years later, they’re facing each other in the opening game of the NCAA Tournament, Fisher’s Aztecs as the No. 4 seed and Menzies’ New Mexico State Aggies as the No. 13 – Thursday at 6:57 p.m. at Spokane Arena in Spokane, Wash.

“San Diego State popped up first, and I thought, ‘Please don’t put us on that line,’” Menzies said of the Selection Sunday bracket announcement. “And then we popped up, and I just shook my head and thought, ‘Here we go.’

“I don’t want to play family, man.”

But remove the awkward tinge of familiarity (former SDSU forward Aerick Sanders is on Menzies’ staff as well), and the Aztecs got about as favorable a draw as could be expected after Saturday’s 64-58 loss to the other Division I team from New Mexico in Mountain West tournament final.

There was some talk that the eighth-ranked Aztecs (29-4) deserved a 3 seed instead of Creighton, which led by 19 and beat on a neutral floor in November. And perhaps they did. But they also could have done worse.

They got a top 4 seed. They got to play in Spokane, the closest available venue for the first weekend with Viejas Arena, their home floor, not an option. They got in the West region, with Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games 90 minutes up Interstate 5 at Anaheim’s Honda Center in what increasingly has become their home-away-from-home.

And to reach Anaheim, the 5 seed they’d have to beat is Oklahoma, which they dispatched 70-55 in their NCAA opener a year ago and which, on paper at least, represents an ideal tactical matchup. The Sooners are coached by Lon Kruger. Fisher is 15-6 all-time against him and has won nine of the last 10.

“If we can go up there (to Spokane) and win,” Fisher said at a public viewing party at Viejas Arena, “we’re going to have the opportunity to play in front of our fans in Anaheim.”

1. Lose in second round
12% (431)

2. Reach third round
8% (298)

3. Reach Sweet 16
33% (1197)

4. Reach Elite Eight
26% (922)

5. Reach Final Four
10% (359)

6. Reach Championship Game
1% (44)

7. Win it all
9% (338)

3589 total votes.

But first, Menzies and the 25-9 Aggies.

Fisher on Menzies: “I could not have waited 10 years and hired anybody better for this program as we got out of the gate. He was so good and so loyal and so committed to San Diego State and to me that we have remained long and dear friends. We went to his wedding. We still talk with great regularity. He’s just a great friend.”

Menzies on Fisher: “Let me tell you something. I would not be the head coach at New Mexico State without Steve Fisher in my life. There is no doubt in my mind.”

Call it a marriage of convenience. Fisher wanted a recruiter with deep ties to Los Angeles. Menzies wanted a Division I job on the West Coast with a veteran coach he could learn under.

Sanders, who joined the New Mexico State staff last summer, was among their first recruits. Menzies also helped bring Randy Holcomb, Tony Bland, Evan Burns, Al Faux, DeAndre Moore, Mike Mackell, Brandon Heath.

“To know Marvin, his personality fills a room,” SDSU associate head coach Brian Dutcher said. “If you’re going to be a high-level recruiter, you have to have that kind of personality. His personality was infectious, and he did a great job of building a foundation for our program.”

Menzies left in 2003 for USC, then UNLV to work under Kruger, then for Louisville and Rick Pitino. He was hired at New Mexico State in 2007 and has taken the Aggies to the NCAA Tournament four times, including the last three straight.

His legacy persists at SDSU, though. Menzies recommended his replacement on Fisher’s staff, Gregg Gottlieb. He also became a mentor to current Aztecs assistant Justin Hutson and taught him the nuances of the recruiting game. Hutson’s replacement when he left for UNLV for two seasons was Bland, who transferred to SDSU from Syracuse in 2000 thanks largely to Menzies’ L.A. ties.

Hanging in Menzies’ office at New Mexico State is a photo of Heath hoisted on students’ shoulders after the Aztecs won the school’s first Mountain West regular-season championship in 2006, along with a strand of net cut down that night. Menzies had been gone three years.

The SDSU staff sent it to him, with the note: “You’re just as much a part of this championship even though you’re not here with us physically.”